The Race
by seaofeyes
Summary: Rachel and Kurt compete for Finn's heart. Who will win? Please REVIEW, it's my first fic! Multi-chapter.
1. It's On

A/N: This is set after Sectionals and it's going to sound a bit 3rd person-ish here and there. It's my writing style. Oh btw, I'm Cait + I'm a big Gleek.

**Chapter One: It's On**

Kurt Hummel was unusual, even he had to admit.

He dressed boldly every day, and got hell for it.

He knew he was gay, and was proud of it.

He was a fabulous male soprano who, even though he purposely messed up the first time, massacre Rachel Berry in a 'diva-off'. But of course, he would not be so bitter toward her if it wasn't for two main reasons. The first, was her obviously irritating personality. Rachel had a way about her that made you want to vomit on yourself (even if you were wearing an outfit from Dolce & Gabana's new Spring line) or shoot yourself just to escape it. She would go on and on about nothing important. Mainly is was verbal throwup about herself and how she was much better than everyone else. But of course this wasn't the main reason for Kurt's anger toward her. No it was much more selfish than that. It was her love interest, Finn Hudson, that provided Kurt with a deep hatred for her. Kurt could honestly admit; he was in love with Finn Hudson. But Rachel, the distant second in Kurt's mind, watched him constantly, while keeping an eye Kurt to make sure that he knew Finn was rightfully hers. Finn recently broke up with his long time girlfriend, Quinn Fabray, after she lied to him about being pregnant with his child. The real baby daddy was none other than Puck Puckerman. A filthy, gross man-ho by it's very definition. Finn had ignored the two after the competition and relied on Rachel and Kurt for comfort. This, of course, made both parties jealous of one another. So the conversation was much more than expected on Wednesday after Glee rehearsal. Rachel had approached Kurt with daggers in her eyes.

"I just want you to know I'm fully committed and devoted to the race of winning the heart of the hot, male lead and quarterback we know as Finn Hudson." She said in her usual bitter and irritating tone.

"Your point, Princess?" I coldly retorted.

"So you can prepare for a horrid loss," she replied brightly.

"It's not a competition when it comes to your conceited attitude. You might want to work on that." I snapped back.

"Kurt, I'm a girl. I can be the most incredibly horrible person and still beat you," she threatened.

"Love shows no gender when it comes to you, Rachel Berry. Finn would rather be with a cow than to deal with you, anyone would," I stated honestly. Could Finn truly love such a cold hearted primadonna? Unfortunately, it may be so.

"At least I can hit a high F." she replied sharply. She _would_ bring that up **again**. I wish I could tell her that I did it on purpose. I couldn't understand why I wouldn't tell anyone about blowing the note on purpose for my dad's sake. It was sort of personal. So I ignored her snarky comment.

"Well Rachel, it's not like your great sense of style will help you. Or your beautiful split ends for that matter," I stated back, loaded with heavy sarcasm. She looked down, not knowing what to say. "Clearly, the first battle has been won," I added flawlessly, I shall say.

"And many more for you to lose," she said smiling.

"Oh, it's on," I said flashing my new scarf against her face. She did _**not**_ know was coming.


	2. Dizzy Head

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! PLEASE. GLEEFORUM USERNAME: chriskurtlove

**Chapter 2: Dizzy Head**

Finn's head was still in a whirl by the time he finished his Spanish test. Rachel had berated him with questions all day. Stupid ones, like things he obviously could not answer. Like "what is your potential future occupation?". _How the hell should I know?_ _And what did occupation mean anyway?_

Finn once liked Rachel, **a lot**. There were many good times between them and she was cute, in a twisted way. But she was also **annoying**. After the whole Quinn-Puck-baby incident, he shied away from girls and focused on his true friends, football and Glee Club. He ignored Quinn in every way possible, as well as Puck. But at Glee practice it was hard. The two had gotten together and filled the two monotonous hours with ogling.

He had gotten over Quinn early into the relationship, _**definitely**_ before Rachel came along. Because only one month after Quinn and he got together, he met someone new. But he stayed with Quinn because it was the right thing to do. He got with Rachel because with the way Glee was, also seemed like the right thing to do.

But that wasn't an excuse, he really did not know why he kissed Rachel--twice. Everything was in the heat of the moment. He felt sad for her a bit, also. She had been made fun of mercilessly. She was a great singer and she was helping him. And he could find his escape from Quinn that way. If he liked someone else, he could leave **easierly**. _Is easierly a word_, he thought. _Yeah, I think it is. Oh right anyway. Back to my before thought._ And it seemed to her that they should kiss, just to see. So he did. And the second time she kissed him.

But he hadn't fought back. Why? So she could come back to Glee. So he could eventually get into a great college to take care of his baby girl. The baby girl that would **never** be his. Looking back, he realized he was stupid.

And all this, is what gave him a dizzy head. He really needed someone to talk to. Someone who would **understand**. There was only one person who would now. He had to text Kurt. He would definitely help. With the **pain**. With the **sorrow**. With the confusing topic on whether **'easierly'** was a word. Kurt was in his Spanish class but Finn couldn't see him with the seat change that Mr. Schue had inflicted after Brittany and Quinn would cheat and talk through all the tests. He rolled his eyes at the name Quinn.

Because of the seat change, he didn't know if Kurt finished his test or not. Knowing Kurt, he probably did. Finn typed the letters quickly, and sloppily.

"Kurt, I really need ur help." He closed his phone and carefully hid away from Mr. Schuester. He didn't need to hear 'Eyes on your own paper, Finn' or 'Put the phone away, Finn' one more time. He was sick of people controlling him. The other kids wouldn't care if he was texting, as they were texting as well. He heard a very, very faint vibrate and knew Kurt had got it.

"Happy to (: What with?" Kurt had texted back.

"Well I will explain is more later. But basically, I'm having a tough time with Rachel bugging me and someone new that I like. And well, you helped me a lot when we were doing the Ballad thingy and uh so I knew I could come to you." He typed in correct grammar, trying to meet Kurt's formality.

Yes, I was learning new words. _It's really cool, there's this thing called a dictionary and they teach you words. It's so amazing._ I was proud of myself_._ Kurt had texted almost immediately.

"I see, I could help you with that. Meet me the Chorus room afterschool. Luckily there is no Football or Glee Club today." Kurt was so reliable. He was starting to become my new best friend.

"Thanks so much! Ur awesome, Kurt!" I replied then glanced at the clock.

Only 3 minutes until the end of the day. Only 3 more minutes until he would be fixed. And he could hardly wait.


	3. Fix You

A/N: Listen to 'Fix You' by Coldplay during this chapter, if you can. It matches. Sorry for a new Kurt POV but its how I'm doing it. Rachel will get a big set of chapters soon. Then vice versa again. (: **PLEASEEEEEEEE REVIEEWWWW!**

**Chapter 3: Fix You**

Kurt crossed his legs and glanced up at the clock. In one minute, Finn would arrive. In one minute his heart would flutter. In one minute he would practically explode with mushy, gushy love. Finn uneasily made his way in, his burly hands in his not-designer-name jean pockets. He looked up with warm eyes; he smiled a teethy grin but seemed anxious.

"Thanks again Kurt," his sweet musk breathed upon me.

"Of course, you're my…friend," I spoke, almost cracking, while adding the word 'friend' lightly. Very lightly.

"Cool. Uh; so," he murmured. He obviously needed some help getting started.

"Let's start with Rachel. You say she's bothering you," This news, of course, was amazing. Joy over brimmed in my eyes. "Yeah, she's been asking me so many personal questions and it's annoying and thinks I'm into her and I'm not. And I think everyone thinks I should be. But I don't so; I don't know what to do. She won't stop pressuring me," I waited patiently for him to finish his rant.

"Well as I said before, she's a girl, so she's like that." I said boldly. I regretted it, again. Yes, I kept on this irritating-because-she's-a-girl thing. I am pathetic. He grinned awkwardly and continued.

"So what do I do," he questioned seriously.

"First of all, if you don't like her, don't date her. **_Love is about caring for someone without caring about what others think of it_**," I said. I was feeling very pro-verbish right about now.

"That is true," he said thinking this over.

"And well if she believes you truly like her, you need to tell her that you're just not interested," I said trying to be sympathetic. My attempt was sad.

"Yeah I should. And put her down easy. I don't hate her," he agreed. _I do, _I thought to myself. But I tried to be diplomatic. I wasn't going to win Finn by bringing his friends down. And the more I fell for him; I realized that me and Rachel weren't that different. But still, I wasn't as irritating and well, I dressed better. While I was contemplating this, an earlier thought came to mind. And suddenly, I was probing.

"So what about this new love interest?" I said, hiding my face from him. I didn't want to see the displeasure and sadness that dyed my face at this moment.

"Well, that's the thing. I don't usually like someone like this," he softly stated.

_How bad could it be? _I wondered.

"Haven't you told…her," I said barely squeaking out the her part. Whoever the girl was, would take him immediately. Who wouldn't?

"I haven't told the person, no," he said carefully avoiding the word "she". Probably for my benefit, he must have seen my grimace on that word.

"Why not? You never know, she may like you too," I replied blankly. 'May' was an understatement. All the girls-and the gay guys- had fallen over for Finn, once in their lives.

"Well, liking or even being with this person is different. Bad for my rep. I'm not ashamed, just scared. I don't want to be slushied everyday," he said slowly and surely. My little proverb popped back into my head. _Was liking this person that bad? _I guess so. I have never known Finn to be afraid, I had seen this when he joined Glee. Being a football player and being in Glee club, it didn't exactly go over well. So now, my head was whirring with possible matches for his description.

"It's that bad?" I asked, determined.

"The person isn't bad. The person is amazing,but…" he said, looking down at his feet. _God, he has to go shopping for new shoes. Pronto. _I thought in horror.

"I think I understand," I replied, undeterred by my train of thought. And yes, I notice the avoiding of the word again. He was nice to think of my displeasure.

"How can I help?" I asked.

"God, Kurt. I need you right now. Like you need to help me out in every way. It'll make it better. With Rachel, with Glee, with love, with Football…with everything. I just need you to be…my best friend," he said, spurring out words in the best way he could.

It wasn't exactly what I wanted. And yes, I had a little bit of hope when he said 'God, Kurt. I need you right now.' But it was obvious he needed a friend. And I needed him. In every way. This would be okay. So I wouldn't get what I wanted, to be with him. But I could be with him in a different way. And this was enough for me. I answered simply.

"I'd love to."


	4. Reinventing Your Entry

A/N: While I was reading reviews and other fanfics, I realized mine sounded so generic. So I changed the plot up a bit. It keeps my original ideas but it tackles others that other writers might have not thought of. I also want to keep my readers happy. Listen to 'Ohio is for Lovers' by Hawthorne Heights.

**Chapter 4: Reinventing Your Entry**

She breathed in steadily. She looked down at her iPod. She had uploaded his photo onto it.

She danced around with it, keeping her eyes on it, and very fluidly, moved around with it.

A waltz of sorts. A kaleidoscope of colors that filled her eyes, she dreamed of them together.

She remembered both kisses as if they were happening now. As if he was hers.

A tear rain down her cheek when she remembered the night in the auditorium.

He had run away so suddenly, leaving her breathless. Leaving her hopeless. She poured her face in her hands and tried to hold herself together but she couldn't. It was much too painful then. It was much too painful now.

'_And I can't make it on my own.  
(And I can't make it on my own.)  
Because my heart is in Ohio.  
So cut my wrists and black my eyes.  
(Cut my wrists and black my eyes)  
So I can fall asleep tonight, or die.  
Because you kill me.  
You know you do, you kill me well.  
You like it too, and I can tell.  
You never stop until my final breath is gone._

YOU...KILL...ME...WELL  
You know you do, you kill me well.  
You like it too, and I can tell.  
You never stop until my final breath is gone.'

She sang, tears streaming down her face. She usually didn't pick selections like this. Especially this number, it didn't feature her classically trained soprano voice range as well as she liked. She needed a song that had at least 4 whole notes in a row at a high F pitch preferably. It showed off her impeccable skill that everyone_ had_ to envy. But this time, she didn't care. Which shocked her. This song displayed her emotions perfectly. Now all she wanted to do was cry herself to sleep. Which she did.

The next day at Glee practice was interesting. She was chipper. She had formulated the perfect plan. Right before first period she snuck in flyers in Mr. Schue's teacher mailbox. This flyer was for a special music event featuring show choirs from all of western Ohio. She of course wanted Glee to be in. And have her being featured **heavily **on lead vocal. Along with Finn. This would give her the perfect chance to be alone with him.

He obviously would have to practice with Rachel for the musical number. Alone. In the auditorium. Where the scene of the crime first took place. He would have to admit his undying love for her and how amazing she could do jazz hands. _It's like sparkles, I swear! I can to do the best Jazz Hands, in the world. I am Rachel Berry (with a gold star, of course). I can do it all. _She thought to herself.

"Okay everyone. I think Sandy Ryerson snuck in some flyers this morning about this Show Choir Expo in Dayton. Its next weekend and we need to learn one amazing number by then. I'm passing out this flyer. Take this to your parents and have them sign it," Mr. Schue said passing out the green papers. Everyone didn't care to look at it.

"So we are singing another Journey song since you guys did so well with Don't Stop Believin'. It's called 'Open Arms' and Finn and Rachel will be the main leads," he informed us. I notice Kurt's eyes roll.

"I'm _not _in the mood to sing some white people corn. This song is lame," Mercedes blared. She obviously wouldn't get the artistic expression of the lyrical tones of the verses and the flow of the chorus.

Mr. Schuester ignored her, thankfully. I had already pictured Finn singing this song to me in his melting, angelic voice. I loved Finn's voice, but it still had no comparison to mine. But once again, I was classically trained by my gay dads. They had formed their own group when they were in their twenties. They would play gay bars on the Las Vegas strip and their most requested was 'It's Raining Men'.

Only 5 minutes was left in Glee now. We had practiced the song so many times; all of us probably would lose our voices by the end of the week. _Everyone except me, of course. _That's when I heard them talking.

"Could you come over my house Friday, Kurt?" I heard Finn's sweet voice ask.

"Of course. Usually they run a Project Runway marathon on Bravo but not this week…So it's all set," Kurt happily replied.

_Oh no, he actually thinks he can compete with me, that talentless man-eater. _

"Is my house, okay?" Finn questioned.

"That's perfect, Finn. I'll see you then," Kurt said halfway out the door. Finn was picking up his backpack when I approached him.

"Finn, I'm sure you know that we need to practice a lot more because we are leads and we hold this group together," I was going to convince him into this.

"Yes, but," he started. I saw him forming a refusal.

"It would be best for the group. You do want Glee to win, don't you," I pushed. He couldn't refuse. He was nice. He would do anything for the group.

I saw a spark in his eye. I had obviously reached him.

"Yes, we should practice," he replied skeptically.

"Good. We're on the same glittered sheet music page then. Auditorium on Thursday at 5," I said, leaving before he could reject this. He would still get his time with Kurt but he would be thinking about me the whole time. Watch Kurt deal with that. Finn would be her soon enough.


	5. Ping Pong Ball

A/N: As you can see already, this will be a longish fic. But REVIEWS are greatly appreciated. But I love that people are reading it from all over the world so when you review try to put your country. I love seeing how everyone loves Glee and hopefully this fanfic. And also, because does not let you pick more than two characters for a description, I chose Kurt and Finn. This does not necessarily mean that Kurt will win Finn. It's just a classification. So don't jump to conclusions. Read the story and you will find out. Easy as that. Also, my pen name DOES NOT affect the outcome of this story. None of you will know what happens. Of course this doesn't mean it's Rachel either. Just read the story. (:

**Chapter 5: Ping Pong Ball**

Things were getting simpler.

Or so Finn thought.

Rachel was being kind. She even wanted to help Glee Club win this Showy Choir thing.

And not for the benefit of herself, like trying to win Finn. At first, Finn thought that Rachel asked him to practice so they could be together. Maybe Finn shouldn't have called Rachel annoying after all. She seemed like she cared a lot about other people now, versus herself. Which was very unlike her. Maybe she changed. _Or…was I just imagining this?_ Finn was thinking about things analytically for the first time in his life. _Since when did the voice in my head speak smartly and stuff? Gawd, it's just like Rachel. _

_Well anyway. Let's see. She invited me to help practice with her. _This wasn't news, really. She had asked him numerous times to practice with him, and vice versa. It was all for Glee Club.

_She said Thursday in the Auditorium. _Thursday was tomorrow. If that had any significance.

Finn had only been in the auditorium on Thursdays for Emergency Glee Practices and one time because he had asked Rachel—

_Oh…wait. I get it now. We kissed in the auditorium. On a Thursday. After practicing. Holy, she wants to re-create what happened the first time. Without any mailmen, of course. Wink wink. (; _

He thought about this for a while. Well that and Sour Patch Kids. _Yum, Sour Patch Kids. _Then he realized something.

_She thinks we will get together. Because I'm not officially attached to anyone. And because of those two kisses. Little does she know…_

Finn had been twisted with feelings for the last few days. He felt like a ping pong ball. He felt one way, one day and differently the next. Everyone had been playing with his emotions. And he didn't quite know how he felt about it. It was different but he couldn't say he hated it. And he knew he should hate it, but he didn't. It was weird. He couldn't explain it.

Things were awkward now. He needed a new beginning. Despite popular belief, Finn wasn't that dumb. _Thanks man. Insulting me in my own head. Classic. _He actually had some deep thoughts. _This is __**my **__head, so __**I can**__ hear you._ And inner struggle ripped through him daily.

"Thursday," Finn grumbled as he walked into the doors of McKinley High. Time to deal with Rachel. She would, of course, remind him multiple times throughout the day of their practice after school. He had been formulating repliesto imply that we were doing this for Glee and we are **just friends**. But everytime I saw her, she talked too much to even get a word in. The day went by quickly. _I realized that whenever you're dreading something, it comes way faster. But when you really want something, the day goes by so slowly. _

Finn reluctantly walked into the auditorium. Rachel hurried to meet him face to face.

'Hello, Finn,' she said in a pleasant tone.

'Hello, Rachel,' I replied politely. I followed her up to the stage. The black piano shined against the lights. He remembered an important time he was here.

It was the time where they practiced their ballads. Kurt had been his most helpful partner and had gotten him to sing to-what he thought was-his little baby girl. It was wonderful memory even though it brought back his hatred for Quinn. But he ignored that. He was over that whole ordeal. But he wasn't sure if he could ever be over the fact that he never had a little girl.

He and Rachel practiced a bit. To the point that Rachel was beaming with pride. They took their own breaks. Rachel had gone out to get a drink of water and Finn had stayed near the piano.

He touched it lightly, as if some way he could get that memory back. He traced the path of keys along the piano. How the black keys meshed with the white keys. How Kurt had learned these keys so perfectly that he could play a beautiful song.

Finn wished he could do that. Maybe he could ask Kurt for lessons. Or maybe not. He's done a lot for me. Maybe I should do something for him first. Friendships are about give and take, right? I've been taking a lot more than I have been giving. Kurt was so nice.

He sat down at the piano bench. He tried to play. But failed. Miserably. It sounded like a bunch of screaming all bunched together to create some horrible noise. It was scary sounding. Like someone was dying. He let his hands sit there. His head was facing down when a loud noise interrupted his thought process. _**Oh gawd no!**_

_**Another a/n: I was thinking maybe Kassy could teach him how to play (; Haha. And I feel like this is the funniest chapter. It's my attempt at bad humor. Anyway, please review. And thanks for reading! You don't know how much it has helped. I got food poisoning this week so all the reviews made me smile! Well, when I wasn't hugging the toilet of course. Hope you enjoyed!**_


	6. Neccesity

Hey guys. I'm sorry. I know you thought this was an update. But it isn't. It's more of an FAQ kind of thing and update.

First, I really need more reviews. I know I sound needy and everything but seriously. I know I've been doing really well but still. With 404 hits (from users), I should be getting a lot more reviews than 9 in total for 5 chapters. I update like every other day so far. Which brings me to my next topic.

I have been updated like crazy but that's because I have been sick and really in the mood. Don't expect me to update every day. But I will update 1-2 times a week. Promise. Some weeks I might add more, some weeks less. But I will try my best to update as much as possible. But in order to do that, you need to review,add my story as an alert or whatever you need to do. But most importantly, review. Even just to say that you liked it is fine. All constructive criticism is allowed.

FAQ:

According to your last A/N, Finn and Kurt aren't going to be together, is that true?

_Actually, I made it quite clear that no one will know who gets together until that chapter. I did not say Kurt and Finn won't be together. I did not say Rachel and Finn won't be together. I simply said read the story and you will find out. Trust me, it will make the story much more enjoyable for me and for you._

Why do you keep switching between 3rd person POV and 1st person POV?

_There really is no good reason for this switching. It's my writing style. I feel awkward writing in first person sometimes so I switch to third person. It's not really third person to me. It's more like narrator style. Technically, it is the same type of thing but this is like voices in the character head narrating their lives rather than what the character is really thinking. This is quite helpful the readers because it will show you a little bit ahead of the story or thought process that the character is in. You guys might want to get used to it while I try to change a bit. _

Does Finn like [enter name here]?

_EEP! I love getting the reviews and PMs saying 'OMG! I think Finn likes so and so'. They are amazing. I love knowing what you guys are thinking so please keep telling me your predictions. They make me smile. And I'm not going to answer them, because you are just going to have to find out who the mystery someone is. _

How do you write the characters so spot on?

_Well first of all, THANKS for saying I write them well. You brighten up my day when you guys say stuff like that. How do I do it? I really don't know. It just comes out of me. I watch the show religiously so maybe that is it? I don't know. But I love that you guys like the character perspectives. _

I liked doing this little FAQ thing. It's really fun. BTW, this will only be up until the next chapter is posted since I don't want to ruin the order of things but I might post it on my profile. Keep reading and reviewing! Thanks!


	7. Spotlight

**A/N: Thanks for all the support from the last update thingy! And I read all of your suggestions and I will try my best to do them. I promise this will be an actual chapter. Sorry for faking you guys out. I usually hate when people do that but it was necessary. Anyway, the long awaited chapter! Try and guess who's POV this is...If you can guess then I know I'm writing the characters well. **

**Chapter 6: Spotlight**

The loud music filled the room. It was bubblegum pop. The spotlights of the stage turned on to reveal a girl with an unsightly big nose and dark hair adorn the stage. She was wearing an unfortunate puke green plaid dress, that went down to the top of her boots. And of course, her boots were the same ugly plaid. She started singing to the gawd awful noise.

_So may I have your attention? Look in my direction  
Here you'll see the sun never says no  
We don't have to worry, never in a hurry  
One by on the stars go to bed  
And I step into the spotlight again_

Can't help myself I gotta be where the lights are shinning down on me  
I wanna feel the sun  
So turn that walk into a run, gonna bring the party when I come  
Sing out if you wanna have some fun

And into the spotlight we will go, follow me 'cause baby life's a show  
And into the spotlight you will see it's the only place to be

Oh, music's like a magnet, the best thing on the planet  
It's pulling us together again  
So let's cause a commotion, sound waves on the ocean

The girl started to sing. But before she got to the next part she had grabbed with her-slut hands- my Finn Hudson. No he wasn't mine, yet. He seemed to be in shocked, but I didn't know if that was a good thing. I decided it wasn't when his eyes widened, almost scared.

He pushed her off him, but she was determined. Whore. I looked wearily as she continued. Moving her body and singing out the lyrics.

_Can't help myself I gotta be where the lights are shinning down on me  
I wanna feel the sun  
So turn that walk into a run, gonna bring the party when I come  
Sing out if you wanna have some fun_

She would want to have some fun. Once again, slut. Finn pushed her away again, but she took it the wrong way. Instead she got more into it.

_And into the spotlight we will go, follow me 'cause baby life's a show  
And into the spotlight you will see it's the only place to be_

"**Rachel stop!" ** The words echoed through the auditorium.

"I don't know how to say this. But I'm not interested in you. Rachel, you can be very nice but you're not what I want. I'm sorry that I led you on….I didn't mean it," he said sympathetically.

"I can be who you want, Finn," she persisted. "I can change,"

"No. Because I already like someone else. You can't be like this person," he replied.

"I could try…" I saw the tears welling up in her eyes, as well as my own.

I could see Finn had really made his descision about someone. Someone who I thought was Rachel. Someone who I couldn't compete with. It was obvious to me now. I could never be his.

I don't know why I just realized this. I should have known. It was a long shot. Finn wasn't…

I couldn't bring myself to say the word, afraid the tears would grow stronger. And that's what I needed to stay. Strong.

It's the only way to survive in this world. To be strong. That's how I survived. I ran away from the place, hiding my tears. I needed a getaway.

**A/N: It's a verrrrrrrrrrrrrrry short chapter I know. I'm sorry. I will write more when I can. It's been a verrrry busy week! **


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